Vale of Leven F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Vale of Leven


fullname = Vale of Leven Football & Athletic Club
nickname = The Vale
founded = 1939 "(present club)" (1872)
ground = Millburn Park
Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire
capacity = |3000 chairman = |Angus Wallace manager = flagicon|Scotland Hugh Hamill
league = SJFA West Region
Scottish Junior Football Central Division One Central League Division 1
season = 2006-07
position = Central League Division 1, 12th
season = 2007-08
position = Central League Division 2, 1st
shirtsupplier= Hummel
shirtsponsors=
pattern_la1= |pattern_b1= |pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=00008B |body1=00008B |rightarm1=00008B |shorts1=FFFFFF |socks1=FF0000
pattern_la2= |pattern_b2= |pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF |body2=FFFFFF |rightarm2=FFFFFF |shorts2=00008B |socks2=FFFFFF

Vale of Leven Football Club are an association club based in the town of Alexandria, Scotland, in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed "the Vale" and formed in 1939, they play at Millburn Park. They play in the Scottish Junior Football Association, Western Region, and wear blue and white strips.

History

Original club

In the early days of Scottish football, Vale of Leven (based in Alexandria) and their neighbours Renton F.C. were real powers in the land. Vale won the Scottish FA Cup three times in succession (1877, 1878 and 1879) and became founder members when the Scottish Football League was formed in 1890.

By this time, the club was being eclipsed by the rising stars from Glasgow and Dumbarton. In their second season they failed to win a single game and finished last. Rather than face re-election for the second time, the club withdrew and joined the rival Scottish Alliance where they played for a single season.

The club also won the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup in shinty in 1879.

Between 1893 and 1902 the Vale played only friendly matches and in cup competition before joining the Scottish Football Combination. In 1905 they applied successfully for readmission to the Scottish League when the Second Division was extended with two additional places. They finished as runners-up in 1907 and in 1909 but did not receive the votes they needed to be elected to the First Division. As the following decade wore on, Vale of Leven struggled and regularly finished near the foot of the table. When the Second Division was suspended in 1915, Vale joined the Western League.

After World War I ended Vale of Leven returned to the Scottish League for the third time as members of the reformed Second Division. After a decent fourth place finish in their first season, the club was relegated to the new Third Division in 1924. This ill-fated competition was abandoned in 1926 when it became clear that the cost of meeting match guarantees and additional travel expenses were beyond the means of its members.

After a season playing in the Scottish Alliance, financial constraints forced the club into a local district league before being discontinued in 1929: victims of the Great Depression which had proven so disastrous for many small Scottish football clubs at professional and amateur level. There was every intention of reviving the club once local economics made it viable; however, unlike previous occasions they were struck off the SFA club roll after withdrawing from their Scottish Qualifying Cup match against Dykehead F.C.

In the meantime Millburn Park continued to be used by a new amateur side, Vale of Leven Old Church Old Boys Association (usually known as "Vale Ocuba"), who took part in the Scottish Cup from 1931 until 1938, and who enjoyed success in first the West of Scotland Amateur League and then the Scottish Combinations: ironically, they also won the Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) in 1937. Despite the church team name, Vale Ocuba appeared to be a flag of convenience for the Vale of Leven Football & Athletic Club struck off the SFA's roll, as events proved...

Original club colours: Dark blue shirts, dark blue shorts, red socks.

Modern club

Vale Of Leven OCOBA were invited to be part of a reconstituted Scottish Football Alliance, along with Babcock & Wilcox F.C. (a works team), fellow former Scottish League and Alliance member Galston F.C., Girvan Athletic F.C., another former Scottish League member Nithsdale Wanderers F.C., Queen's Park F.C. Strollers (Queen's Park F.C. third team), and Stranraer F.C., which they duly did, but as Vale of Leven Football & Athletic Club - "Vale Ocuba" promptly vanishing from the face of the earth.

Disaster struck however when the start of World War 2 obliged the league to be suspended due to restrictions on travel by December 1939. In order to survive, Vale Of Leven promptly joined the ranks of the Scottish Junior Football Association - suffering an abrupt vacancy in their Central League due to the bankruptcy of Springfield Athletic - and thus bringing to a final end 67 years of membership of the Scottish Football Association they'd helped to create.

Technically, the current club is unattached to the former senior club, but in reality it is the continuation of it. Scottish Junior football has a number of clubs (eg. Arthurlie, Beith F.C, Royal Albert F.C, Port Glasgow Athletic) that were forced to fold as Senior sides due to financial reasons or as a result of the collapse of the old Scottish Division Three in the late 1920s. (Some initially found a home in the Scottish Alliance, until this too was discontinued at the behest of the Senior sides.) This is more prevalent on the West Coast where no non-amateur Senior league exists any longer. The most recent example of this trend has been the former Junior turned Senior turned Junior again side Clydebank F.C..

Vale of Leven should not be confused (but frequently are by non-Scots) with the slightly differently named East of Scotland League club Vale of Leithen.

On the night of 23/07/08 Vale of Leven were demolished 6-3 in a friendly match with local rivals Clydebank F.C..

Honours

*Scottish Cup
**Winners 1877, 1878, 1879
*Scottish Qualifying Cup
**Winners 1909, 1937
*Celtic Society Cup (shinty)
**Winners 1879
*Scottish Junior Cup
**Winners 1953
*Central Junior Football League
**B Division champions 1969-70
**C Division champions 1978-79
**D Division champions 1946-47
*Evening Times Cup Winners Cup
**Winners 1947, 1970
*Kirkwood Shield
**Winners 1951, 1954, 1958, 1965
*Dunbartonshire Junior Cup
**Winners 1940, 1965
*Dunbartonshire Junior Charity Cup
**Winners 1943, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1954
*Erskine Hospital Charity Cup
**Winners 1970

External links

* [http://www.valeoflevenfc.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article1517401.ece Seasons that fixed a place in history for Vale of Leven] The Times, 15 May 2007